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Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  3. Title Page
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Historical Note
  47. Questions for Discussion
  48. In 2020, look forCaroline Delacroix’sstory in
  49. About the Author
  50. Back Ads
  51. Back Cover

Gray pulled Annabelle into an embrace and lifted her feet off the ground, burying his face in her neck so the others wouldn’t see the elation on his face. He rejoiced partly for Luke, but mostly because he was about to marry into a family unlike any he’d ever known. This country had been built on a foundation laid down by farmers and stalwart farmer’s wives. It was made great by college professors, inventors, gamblers, industrialists, and dreamers. The politicians at the helm would change every four years, but the heartbeat of America would stay strong.

And outside, the fireworks had begun.

Historical Note

In 1897 the U.S. Department of Agriculture created a program to search the world for seeds that could diversify the nation’s food supply. Led by plant explorer David Fairchild, the program introduced many of the fruits and vegetables we now take for granted, such as avocados, soybeans, tangerines, mangos, and kale. Perhaps the department’s most successful import was durum wheat from central Russia. This hardy strain is now one of the most commonly grown types of wheat in America.

The problem of adulterated food reached mammoth proportions in the early twentieth century, when a shockingly high percentage of all canned food was either mixed with fillers, mislabeled, or infused with untested preservatives. There was no law against such practices, prompting the Department of Agriculture to begin clinical tests on the safety of chemical flavorings and preservatives. Their work culminated in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, which required labels to accurately describe a product’s contents.

Concerned by the adulteration of commonly sold food and drink, the magazine Good Housekeeping created its legendary consumer product testing facility in 1900 and immediately began alerting their readers to the problems of “dishonest food.” They also highlighted products that lived up to their claims. Beginning in 1909, those products were awarded with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, which is still in operation today.

After saffron, vanilla is the most labor-intensive crop in the world and continues to command shockingly high prices. Although chemical substitutes for vanilla were once pale imitations of the real thing, improvements in artificial vanilla extract have made it almost indistinguishable from genuine vanilla.

As of this writing, the progenitor of the vanilla orchid alluded to in the beginning of the novel remains in hiding, but plant explorers are still looking.

Questions for Discussion